Firth's books

Pub. 1985 Back Cover/Spine Pub. April 2000 Pub. Aug. 2000 See Reviews below.     Other books by Firth A Perfect Stranger Pub. 1981   A Dutch Family in the Middle Colonies, 1660-1800 Pub. 1991 A Catch of Grandmothers Pub. 2004  Nine generations of Haring Grandmothers in Rockland County going back to the 17th century. Available from the Historical Society of Rockland County Download a PDF document with synopsis and order form A Catch of Grandmothers PDF Make sure that your printer setup is set to 'Print to paper" or "Fit to paper" size.   Land So Fair   Pub. February 2008 Four generations of a Dutch-American family struggle to survive on their farms in the Hudson Valley of New York and New Jersey against a background of slavery, boundary disputes and land grabs, religious controversy, and the havoc and devastation of the American Revolution. Told through the characters of three related women, Land So Fair is an outgrowth of the author’s prize-winning work A Dutch Family in the Middle Colonies, 1660–1800 (Rutgers University Press, 2000), and her historical poem, A Catch of Grandmothers (2004). See Press Release below.

Reviews of "Zion on the Hudson" "With the publication of this volume, Dr. Fabend has earned the distinction of being the most knowledgeable writer on the history of the Reformed Church in America during the nineteenth century." Elton J. Bruins, Hope College, Reformed Review "This book, with her earlier A Dutch Family in the Middle Colonies, establishes Fabend as the premier historian of Dutch American culture. . . . Highly recommended for its lucid, engaging style, solid research, and content." C. H. Lippy, University of Tennessee, Choice "Fabend grounds her conclusions on previously untapped archival sources that . . . support her main thesis that the Reformed Dutch Church nurtured Dutchness while also being a powerful de-ethnicizing modernizing force." Robert P. Swierenga, Hope College, "Powerful, persuasive, with shrewd insights and acute descriptions and analyses." Paul Mattingly, New York University, de Halve Maen "A rich and comprehensively researched study -a very fine book." Donna Merwick, William and Mary Quarterly "A very scholarly work, but one that is enjoyable to read. A pioneering study." The N.Y. G&B Record "In perhaps her most fascinating chapter . . . Fabend does well at identifying the forces that pushed and pulled the Reformed Dutch in opposite directions in the nineteenth century and deepens and complicates current understandings of how ethnic groups became Americanized." Richard Pointer, American Historical Review  Press release for "Land So Fair"  Land So Fair, Firth Haring Fabend’s sixth novel, a family saga, opens in 1737 on a Bergen County farm, where the family’s land, “sought, bought, cleared, planted, harvested, bequeathed, fought over, challenged, confiscated, and laced with blood and bones,” is threatened anew each generation. The family is the author’s own family--she is the eleventh generation of it--and the three strong-minded women in this gripping story are her own grandmothers. Constant threats to their land, feared and fearful slave uprisings, and the inevitability of impending Revolution define the characters' daily lives, creating conflicts for them--and an exciting read for the booklover.              Firth Fabend’s five previous novels were published between 1968 and 1985. A historian with the rare talent of creating spellbinding fiction while weaving in details of fact, she holds a Ph.D. in American Studies and has published two prize-winning works of history with Rutgers University Press on the Dutch colony of New Netherland. Readers of Land So Fair will not suspect they are being taught history, for Fabend is considered the “premier historian of Dutch American culture,” and her writing is highly recommended for its “lucid, engaging style, solid research, and content.” Mrs. Fabend is sought after as a speaker on the history of New Netherland and the persistence of Dutch culture in New York and New Jersey into the nineteenth century. Land So Fair can be ordered through local bookstores or on line at Amazon.com. (direct link to book at Amazon.com =  http://tinyurl.com/ytfcex ) (Direct link to all her books at Amazon.com = http://tinyurl.com/ywqnab )